With Week 4 coming to an exciting conclusion with the unexpected doubleheader, fantasy football managers have quickly set their sights on improving their rosters ahead of Week 5. With waivers set to run tonight in most leagues, we will jump right into some of the top waiver wire adds for those of you are lucky enough to play in IDP leagues. You truly don’t know what you are missing until you try it. Let’s dig in.
View your league’s top available players with My Playbook 
Note: Rostered percentages provided via Yahoo! leagues
Defensive Back
Josh Jones (S – JAC): 6% rostered on Yahoo!
Josh Jones was excellent in Week 4 against the Bengals. He recorded seven solos and four assists in the DB1 level performance. His bidding will be aggressive in most leagues, so take that into account when preparing your own claims. Jones is third among all safeties in solo tackles through four weeks of play and could emerge from the bye weeks as a weekly DB1 option, something he may start to be ranked as during some of the more significant bye weeks for the position. While his bidding should not be as aggressive as it could be if he played for another team, that does not mean we should be timid with our bids for a potential starter. Add Jones wherever possible, even if you only need him as depth.
Jeremy Chinn (S/LB – CAR): 11% rostered on Yahoo!
Jeremy Chinn was rock solid once again in Week 4. He racked up five solo tackles and three assists against Arizona and should be rostered as a DB2 option. He remains available in 89 percent of Yahoo leagues despite being touted in this column for multiple weeks. Chinn has solidified himself as a DB2 option and continues to play all over the field, including at safety, linebacker, and slot corner. He could push his way into the DB1 conversation by the end of the season and absolutely deserves to be rostered with the byes popping up. 15th among safeties with 19 solo tackles, Chinn is an excellent fill-in for injured stars like Keanu Neal or Jamal Adams and could be an important depth piece for your squad even if you will not be able to start him when everyone else is active. Add Chinn wherever possible.
Deionte Thompson (S – ARI): 0% rostered on Yahoo!
Deionte Thompson was excellent filling in for the injured Chris Banjo. He recorded four solo tackles, five assists, and one pass defended. He is expected to pass Banjo permanently at some point of this season and is a solid fill-in for Banjo or as a bye week filler if Banjo misses more time. Thompson will have to force Banjo to the bench, but the 2019 fifth-round pick is the more talented of the two, he just has not proven to be the more effective NFL player, yet. Add him wherever needed.
Taylor Rapp (S – LAR): 9% rostered on Yahoo!
Taylor Rapp recorded seven solo tackles, one assist, and one pressure. Jordan Fuller missed another game with his shoulder injury and may be losing his already tenuous grip on his starting role. With two games to prove that he has improved in his knowledge of the Rams new scheme, Rapp may be able to keep the 2020 sixth round pick on the bench permanently. While it was aided by a Rapp injury in camp, Fuller winning the job over him was one of the bigger surprises entering the season. Drafted as a DB2 and even as a DB1 option by redraft managers this offseason, Rapp was discarded by many after it became clear that he was playing behind Fuller. Now that he has made moves to wrestle the starting job, he needs to be added universally.
Linebacker
Kenneth Murray (LB – LAC): 10% rostered on Yahoo!
Kenneth Murray is somehow rostered in just 10 percent of Yahoo! leagues. A high-level talent playing for a potentially great (when healthy) defense, Murray needs to be added in redraft leagues. He recorded six solo tackles and four assists in Week 4, and is now up to 18 solos on the year, good for 25th at his position. He should continue to creep closer to the top 15, or possibly even the top 10 as the season progresses, making Murray a no doubt LB2 option, especially during the byes. I will have him as an LB1 most weeks due to upside, but if he is the top option on your roster there is no problem is having to deploy him as one. Available in 90 percent of Yahoo! leagues, the future LB1 fixture needs to be rostered in all leagues with two or more LB spots.
Anthony Walker (LB – IND): 10% rostered on Yahoo!
Anthony Walker exploded for nine solo tackles and two assists in Week 4 and needs to be on more than 10 percent of Yahoo! rosters. While he is more of an LB3 with LB2 upside on non bye weeks, with the byes starting, he is an extremely valuable LB2 option. He is going to be inconsistent but remains active in the tackle department thanks to a high motor. He was back over the 85 percent snap mark against the Chargers and figures to see above 75 percent of the snaps moving forward. Tied for 16th with 20 solo tackles, Walker needs to be universally owned during the bye weeks.
Benardrick McKinney (LB – HOU): 9% rostered on Yahoo!
Tied for 16th among linebackers with 20 solos, McKinney continues to produce and also continues to be underappreciated. McKinney is a strong matchup based LB2 option and has produced whenever expected. His tackle to assist ratio is still not what one would want, but when we are talking about someone with 20 solos and 18 assists through four contests, who cares? McKinney recorded five solos and five assists in Week 4 and has a schedule literally littered with plus matchups for an active linebacker. He is not, and will never be one of the ‘sexy’ names in IDP, but if you play in a deeper league, all LB2 options should be rostered. With the byes now starting, McKinney should be added wherever available.
De’Vondre Campbell (LB – ATL): 11% rostered on Yahoo!
De’Vondre Campbell remains locked in as an every snap player, and as the Cardinals top coverage linebacker. He drops into coverage on almost every single passing snap and remains active against the run. Campbell had four solos and five assists in Week 4 and is going to continue to produce as long as he stays in his current role. Isaiah Simmons is not currently a threat to his job, which means Campbell should be rostered almost universally. He has been strong all season and is tied for 10th at the linebacker position with 21 solos. The byes are coming so there is no longer any excuse for Campbell to be floating on wires. I do not want to be able to discuss Campbell again next week due to his rostered numbers creeping too high. Make it happen.
Defensive Line
Josh Allen (DE – JAC): 11% rostered on Yahoo!
The Jaguars coaching staff continues to pull Josh Allen off the field for one reason or another, but he is playing enough snaps to be trusted as a bye week DL1. Drafted as DL1, being removed in some snaps against the run has artificially capped Allen’s weekly upside. Now up to two sacks on the season, Allen’s push to record double digit sacks for the second straight season is underway. I was literally shocked to see someone who posted 10.5 sacks as a mere rookie available in 89 percent of Yahoo! leagues, but I am painfully aware that many IDP owners play in shallower leagues or play the wire on a weekly basis chasing the latest shiny producer. Allen will not produce the consistent numbers we have come to expect from DL1 options, that is why he has been listed as DL2 recently, but he has weekly DL1 upside and the Pro Bowler will push for DL1 numbers when the season final stat lines are calculated. Punish your rival managers for dropping, and leaving a talent like Allen on the wire.
Maxx Crosby (DE – LV): 12% rostered on Yahoo!
Maxx Crosby recorded his third sack of the season in Week 4 and is now looking more like the player we saw in 2019. While his Week 4 line was otherwise tame outside of the sack, his final stat line of one solo, one sack, one tackle for loss, and one QB hit still helped him make do on the plus matchup against Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills. Much like with Allen (the Jaguars version), someone who shows that he is one of the top edge rushers in the league as a mere rookie needs to be near universally rostered the following season. Opposing teams are now scheming to stop Crosby as he is viewed as the Raiders top pass rusher, but it has not mattered over the last two weeks. Add him wherever possible.
DeMarcus Lawrence (DE – DAL): 10% rostered on Yahoo!
Lawrence had a solid Week 4, recording three solo tackles and one tackle for loss. However, Lawrence is still searching for his first sack of the season. Lawrence simply has not been the same player since he signed his mega-deal, notching just five sacks in 2019 despite a full 16 games played. He has a slew of plus matchups during the bye weeks and should find the quarterback in at least a few of them. At this point, he is more name than game, but he remains a high-level talent who can start to wreak havoc once opposing defenses decide to start keying on Aldon Smith and Eve Griffen. The Cowboys would have had a special line if Gerald McCoy was still with the team, but alas, it was not to be. Add Lawrence as a bye week filler who should be active enough in the tackle department to provide DL2 level upside during the byes.
Everson Griffen (DE – DAL): 8% rostered on Yahoo!
Griffen had three solo tackles and one assist in Week 4 against the Cleveland Browns. He has just one sack on the season, but that is likely to change as teams are starting to get more worried about Aldon Smith. DeMarcus Lawrence’s poor play certainly has not helped matters, as Griffen does not have a tandem partner like Danielle Hunter to constantly command double teams. The schedule gods gave the Cowboys a string of plus matches during the byes, which makes Griffen somewhat of a must add when we add all of the injuries befalling players this season to the equation. Griffen should see the field more when the Cowboys are not playing from behind and are not forced to focus on run defense, which makes his Week 5 matchup against New York and his Week 7 matchup against Washington, ones to chase. Add Griffen wherever possible as a DL3 with DL2 upside during the byes.
Import your team to My Playbook for instant Waiver Wire advice
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | SoundCloud | iHeartRadio
Beyond our fantasy football content, be sure to check out our award-winning slate of Fantasy Football Tools as you prepare for your draft this season. From our free mock Draft Simulator – which allows you to mock draft against realistic opponents – to our Draft Assistant – which optimizes your picks with expert advice – we’ve got you covered this fantasy football draft season.
Raju Byfield is a featured writer for FantasyPros. For more from Raju, check out his archive and follow him @FantasyContext.
